{"id":418,"date":"2021-11-08T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T16:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/?p=418"},"modified":"2021-11-08T12:26:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T20:26:38","slug":"how-is-the-child-support-obligation-calculated-in-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/how-is-the-child-support-obligation-calculated-in-maryland\/","title":{"rendered":"How Is the Child Support Obligation Calculated in Maryland?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Child-Support-Obligation.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-419\" width=\"250\" height=\"171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Child-Support-Obligation.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Child-Support-Obligation-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Child-Support-Obligation-768x526.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When an individual is going through a divorce, there are\nmany personal and financial details that must be ironed out between each\npartner before the split is finalized. When couples with children are preparing\nto split, one of those critical details is child support logistics. Both\nparents are required to support their children after divorce in the state of\nMaryland, but how is child support obligation actually calculated? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Calculating Child Support Obligation in Maryland<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Maryland uses the \u201cincome share\u201d method to calculate child\nsupport payments. This method is designed to ensure that both parents,\ncustodial and non-custodial, are contributing to supporting their children once\na divorce is finalized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The specifics of a child support agreement can be ironed out\noutside of court by the parents or can be settled in family court after a child\nsupport order. The details and ultimate ruling of the court will most likely\nhinge upon the following items:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The <em>total<\/em> monthly income of each parent<\/li><li>Adjusted actual income of each parent (accounts for\nexisting child support and alimony costs)<\/li><li>Childcare expenses for employment purposes<\/li><li>Health insurance costs<\/li><li>Extraordinary outstanding or expected medical\ncosts<\/li><li>Accurate financial statements<\/li><li>College funding (not legally required in\nMaryland, but can still be included in private negotiations)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the income share model, the court uses the collected\ninformation above to estimate the total cost of raising the child or children.\nFrom there, the court focuses on ensuring the non-custodial parent is set to\ncontribute a proportional portion of their earnings in child support.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The specifics of each case will cause the results to vary,\nbut here is an example of how child support obligation could feasibly be\ncalculated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A non-custodial parent earns a total of $3,000 per month,\nand the custodial parent earns $2,000 per month. The court estimates that the\ncost of raising a child is $1,500 a month. The non-custodial parent&#8217;s income is\n60% of the parent&#8217;s total combined income. Therefore, the non-custodial parent\npays 60% of the cost to support the child, or $900 in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Protect Your Finances During and After Divorce with Elizabeth Anu Lawrence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Law Office of Elizabeth A. Lawrence offers high-quality\nlegal representation, personal attention, and professionalism to help defend\nthose who need it most.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/contact-us.php\">Click here<\/a> or call (410)\n986-0088 to consult with an experienced attorney today. Skype, Zoom and\nFacetime consultations are available as well. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When an individual is going through a divorce, there are many personal and financial details that must be ironed out between each partner before the split is finalized. When couples with children are preparing to split, one of those critical details is child support logistics. Both parents are required to support their children after divorce [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":420,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions\/420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elawrencelaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}